These are the things I know about imagination, trust, and the worlds people build when you stop correcting them, at eight or at eighty.
The things that matter most to children do not show up in the data. That is not evidence they do not matter. It is evidence the data is incomplete.
318 children. One question. Seven consistent themes. What classic grounded theory research revealed when children were asked what it was like to be the author of their own story.
The things that matter most, feeling seen, heard, valued, do not show up in the data. That is not evidence they do not matter.
Canadian Teacher Magazine explains not just that storytelling works for trauma-affected children but why. The research behind StoryQuest's approach to adversity.
Build a world together, and trust follows.
Your people are being asked to trust each other across distance, across generations and through constant change. Most have never been shown how.
Kate Markland has. For a time she had one hour a week with her son Gabriel, on a FaceTime call. They spent it building a world. She asked one question, wrote down everything he said and corrected nothing. That world became three books and a method tested in nine UK schools.
In her keynote, Create the World You Want, Kate shows your audience how trust is really built, and gives them a method they can use the same evening.
For leadership, education and family audiences.
Even the kids who don’t like writing didn’t want to leave.

Even the kids who don’t like writing didn’t want to leave.
StoryQuest gives children the freedom to imagine, speak and be heard without being corrected, guided or rushed. It begins with a story. But what families create together is something much bigger: connection.
+44 7360 270776
© Copyright 2026. The Adventures of Gabriel. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy